DALLAS – Isiah Thomas’ intention is to trade Penny Hardaway’s expiring contract by the Feb. 23 deadline, but in the belief that offers will improve, he may wait until that day before pulling the trigger.

The Post reported Sunday that Thomas was discussing deals involving Hardaway with four teams that are trying to create room under the salary cap: Seattle, Denver, Orlando and Portland. An NBA executive who has spoken to Thomas said yesterday that a fifth team is slowly emerging, and it could be the Timberwolves or Lakers.

The Knicks and Lakers were discussing a swap of Hardaway for Lamar Odom, but L.A. was insistent on having Channing Frye included.

The word out of L.A. is that Thomas may have gone for it, had the Lakers added Andrew Bynum. Thomas was hot for the rookie center before the draft and would have selected him, had Frye or Gerald Green been off the board.

Indeed, a source said while Frye is believed to be virtually untouchable, that status could change if two important players or one Kevin Garnett-type player were thrown into the mix.

“Isiah believes there’s four, five teams desperate for Hardaway’s contract, because there aren’t a lot of Hardaways out there this year,” a person familiar with the situation said. “He thinks the offers will get better between now and the deadline. But it has to make sense for the future.”

Thomas will not just trade Hardaway for a 30-plus player. The Knicks hope to get a young veteran out of it.

If Hardaway is not traded, the Knicks will likely waive him after the deadline to open a roster spot, then sign a point guard out of the Continental Basketball Association.

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Jalen Rose, benched in the fourth quarter in Houston on Sunday, will face his former team, the Raptors, in the final game before the All-Star break tomorrow . . . The Knicks were 0-9 without Marbury, who is expected back sometime after the break, likely in the team’s first game back on Feb. 22.